Comments

aha! jeff oftens says vehicle as well; in fact, i know quite a few men who say "vehicle" instead of "car", and i don't think i've *EVER* heard a woman use that word in casual conversation. what's up with that??! (sorry, i don't have a point here...just musing...)

How about garden instead of yard? My in-laws are Brits and we used to have a mess of a yard and yet my mother-in-law always said she was going out into the garden. The garden was composed of mossy grass and a ragged hedge.

The difference between Brit English and American English can be quite amazing. I have gotten used to both but you will never hear me say 'soda' for example. It sounds weird to my ears. So like Bing, I say soft drink which makes my American husband giggle. Go figure.

So loo is slang for comfort room? I used the word in a blog and wondered if I spelled it properly or if it even meant what I thought it meant. What are proper cuss words in the UK? Bugger may be a scoundrel?

@above comments: I don't think it has much to do with being British. He's lived in America since he was 13. It's just that he says the full word instead of the shorter version which I find endlessly entertaining. And I don't know "proper" swear words but including both the F word and a 'please' in a polite attempt to road rage urging the driver next to us to move his "f....'ng vehicle please" never fails to put a smile on my face.

My language is completely confused. I have to think really hard to try to fit into a language and even then I mess it up. It's been a character flaw all my life, I try to hard to sound right and end up mixing everything into a stew of language, so I sound wrong to *everyone*. I end up saying things like "trash bin" and "rubbish can". My manuscript is in British English not because it is natural to me but because my best proof reader is English.

On the other hand, I don't think I have ever used "f..'ng" and "please" in the same sentence. That does sound endearing!

I'd say brilliant, amazing, fascinating instead of ...awesome and highway or motorway instead of freeway. I teach British English as a second language and find it so charming. Yet, there are some american words I like such as purse instead of handbag or downtown instead of city centre.